Wynton Kelly - Green Dolphin Street

Solo From The Album ‘Kelly Blue’ 1959

Selected Analysis/What Can We Learn

Another great one from Wynton Kelly! Coming from one of my favorite albums, ‘Kelly
Blue’, that has 2 tracks of sextet, rest is trio.

‘Green Dolphin Street’ is a song that was played extensively during this time; there are
several different takes of Wynton Kelly playing it with his own group as well as for
example with Miles Davis Quintet. I urge you to go and check out different versions,
and try to find similarities/differences in Kelly’s playing. That will show you how
improvising is not about playing whatever, it is about good melodies and phrases
studied and applied thoroughly. Also it shows how the same melodies and phrases
are used over and over again, sometimes even in the same place in the form on
different takes.

Good other versions to check out are on the Miles Davis live album ‘Live At The
Blackhawk’, check out the complete takes as it has 2 different versions of the song

Here Spotify link:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5PQYdCNagyzTfZeAn6MLXn?
si=lfFOhaMESPmr8ssRnonIEg
1. Language

Here phrases to study:

Bars 13-15

If you have read

other transcription analysis’s, you might notice this same phrase has appeared few
times before (go see Red Garland on ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ and Bud Powell on ‘Celia’). I
wanted to take this phrase again just to point out how the same phrase is used in
many ways by many (or actually I could say all) other musicians, although never
exactly the same way! Please go to see the analysis’s mentioned above for more
detailed information.

Bars 27 and 59

You notice the similarity? Again I want to point out how there is nothing wrong in
using the same phrase again, even in the same solo AND the same place in the form!
This shows how well studied and checked out Kelly was; every line and melody is
prepared and thought through, as well as used and played thousands of times.
2. Wynton’s Blues Tricks

One of the things Wynton Kelly is famous for is the “funky” blues licks.

Good example of that are the bars

Very simple 4th with a grace note, then just using a triad and moving the upper 3rd.
The thing that makes this sound so good is not necessarily a sophisticated voicing
(as we see, only a 4th and triads), but the groove that Kelly creates by playing just the
write swing/time feel. This is something we can’t analyze on paper, only way to learn it
is to listen and try to imitate his playing as closely as possible.

3. Triads

There are places in the form that are a bit unusual for a standard, therefore might be
hard to improvise over. To me the places are bars 5 and 6 of the A section, F/Eb - E/Eb.
When encountering difficult changes we should think as simple as possible.

In this solo there are examples of how Kelly uses the simplest thing over those bars

Notes from Fmaj and Emaj

F triad and Emaj

You can try this over any changes; always think the simplest way first, just with the
basic triad chord tones, then adding the 7th and so on. You will see how easier it is to
create musical melodies from the simplest approach.

Enjoy!